By AFP and Raphael Ahren
Benjamin and Sara Netanyahu lay a wreath at the Kigali Memorial Center in Rwanda, July 6, 2016.Stringer, AP
KIGALI, Rwanda — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrived in Rwanda on Wednesday, a highly symbolic part of a “historic” African tour, boosting ties between two countries with a history marked by genocide.
Netanyahu, welcomed at the airport by Rwandan President Paul Kagame, later visited the Kigali Memorial Center, where more than 250,000 victims of the at least 800,000 victims of the 1994 genocide are buried in mass graves.
“We are deeply moved by the memorial to the victims of one history’s greatest crimes – and reminded of the haunting similarities to the genocide of our own people. Never again,” Netanyahu and his wife, Sara, wrote in the guestbook at the memorial, according to a tweet by Kagame.
“The Rwandan government felt a real affinity with Israel for obvious historic reasons,” said Phil Clark, a Rwanda specialist at London’s SOAS university.
“We are deeply moved by the memorial to
the victims of one history’s greatest crimes – and reminded of the
haunting similarities to the genocide of our own people. Never again,”
Netanyahu and his wife, Sara, wrote in the guestbook at the memorial,
according to a tweet by Kagame.
“The
Rwandan government felt a real affinity with Israel for obvious
historic reasons,” said Phil Clark, a Rwanda specialist at London’s SOAS
university.
Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu & First Lady Sara Netanyahu's message after touring the #Kigali Memorial Centre pic.twitter.com/V3R9FvfNFy— Presidency | Rwanda (@UrugwiroVillage) July 6, 2016
“Israel was seen as a small country in a very hostile neighborhood; a country with very few resources but which had recovered from its genocide very quickly and very impressively,” Clark said. “So Israel was an obvious place for Rwanda to look to for inspiration.”
From a pragmatic point of view, Israel is seen by Rwanda as an alternative partner amid increasingly strained relations with traditional allies such as the United States or Britain.
In 2014, when Rwanda sat on the UN Security Council, Kigali abstained from a resolution — ultimately rejected — advocating the end of the occupation of Palestinian territories.
Netanyahu’s visit to Rwanda is part of a four-nation Africa trade and security tour aimed at boosting ties.
On the eve of Netanyahu’s tour Israel announced a relatively modest $13 million (12 million euro) aid package to strengthen economic ties and cooperation with African countries.
Israel’s business with Africa constitutes only two percent of its foreign trade, leaving plenty of room for growth while demand for its defense expertise and products is rising.
It also sees African countries as potential allies, particularly at the United Nations and other international bodies, where it is regularly condemned over its occupation of the West Bank and blockade of the Gaza Strip.
On Monday, Netanyahu visited Uganda to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the Israeli raid on Entebbe airport in which his brother Yonatan was killed rescuing hostages held by German and Palestinian hijackers.
On Tuesday he visited Kenya, and will end his tour on Thursday in Ethiopia.
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Israel played a prominent role in assisting newly independent African countries in the 1960s, but those relations crumbled in the 1970s, when Arab countries, promising aid, pressured African nations to limit or cut ties with Israel.
African states also opposed Israel’s close ties to South Africa’s apartheid government.
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